Countries across the world are rushing ahead of each other to building the world's next tallest building. Dubai's Burj Khalifa continues to hold the record since 2011 at a height of 828 metres. Closing in on the race is the proposed Bionic Tower project in Shanghai, expected to be around 400 metres taller than the Burj. Not far behind is Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower set to be complete by 2020.

This clip shows how the skyscraper boom shifted from the West to Asia and the Persian Gulf during the 1990s. Malaysia's Petronas Towers in 2001 marked the turning point in the trend.